A woman has been left furious after receiving a £120 fine from Manchester City Council for feeding pigeons in Piccadilly Gardens last Sunday.
Kerris Fenn, a 22-year-old customer support executive from Cardiff who was visiting her brother in Manchester for the weekend, was handed the fine under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 for “littering, namely food waste” after feeding pigeons part of the Greggs Vegan Sausage Roll she was eating.
Speaking to the MEN, Kerris explained that she had had ripped the end of the pastry into “tiny pieces” to feed a small group of birds as she thought they looked “quite sweet”, but was left shocked when enforcement officers from 3GS – on behalf of the council – handed her a £150 fine, which would be reduced to £120 if paid it within ten days.
Manchester City Council has defended the fine stating that “feeding the pigeons is littering, plain and simple”.
Explaining the chain of events from Sunday 26th July, Kerris said: “I was sat in Piccadilly Gardens [and] I had walked over from the Arndale Centre. I was eating a Greggs Sausage Roll. It was less than a mouthful left [and the pigeons] had gathered around [which] I thought it was quite sweet.”
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“I just really like animals, I’m a vegan”.
“I ripped [the sausage roll] into tiny pieces [and] I tried feeding the crumbs to them. It was just a small group, not flocks and flocks,” she said.
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Greggs
Enforcement officers then came over and “demanded her ID”.
She continued: “They charged me £120 for littering [but] it would have been more than £150 if I left it more than 10 days. It’s outrageous. It’s crazy to treat me the same as someone who throws litter on the floor. I contacted the council and explained ‘this is crazy’ [and] said ‘if you told me, I would have stopped’. I was shocked.”
“It’s the most expensive lunch ever.”
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“I’m not going back [to Piccadilly Gardens], definitely not. I can’t believe it. I’m still angry about it. It’s upsetting how shocking it was, and how embarrassing it was in front of so many people”.
Addressing the charge, Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar – Executive Member for Neighbourhoods at Manchester City Council – said: “Feeding the pigeons is littering, plain and simple. Clear signs are in place in Piccadilly Gardens to advertise this fact [and] while we take no pleasure in handing out Fixed Penalty Notices to offenders, it’s extremely important that people understand that they should not be feeding the birds in this way.”
“Illegally dropping food for the pigeons is bad for the local environment and can also be harmful to the birds, as many items intended for human consumption are not suitable for them to eat.”
Kerris confirmed that she tried to appeal, but said that Manchester City Council stated she “would have to wait until my case proceeds to court”.
She chose to pay the £120 fine in order to prevent it from increasing.
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The Rest Is Football to host new Netflix show during the 2026 World Cup
Danny Jones
If you’re wondering what the 2026 FIFA World Cup coverage is going to look like, one particular group of punditry regulars will be broadcasting remotely, as The Rest Is Football has signed a huge deal with Netflix.
Led by Gary Lineker and co-hosted by Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, the smash-hit sports podcast is taking its already visualised format into a new corner of streaming, signing on as Netflix’s official programming partner throughout the tournament.
Co-founded by Lineker himself, the show is owned and produced by Goalhanger Podcasts (who also oversee the equally popular The Rest Is History and Rest Is Politics series), and will be the brand’s first foray into TV.
Announcing the seasonal Rest Is Football spin-off this week, the trio of former footballers turned presenters shared a short trailer on social media, giving an overview of what fans can expect come World Cup 2026.
Obviously, as seasoned pros both on the pitch and on the box through their work on Match of the Day (MotD), BT/TNT Sports, CBS Sports and more, this will be familiar ground for all three of them.
Lineker was expected to anchor the BBC’s World Cup coverage as usual, but after leaving the company earlier this year, he has decided to go it alone – or rather with his close friends and long-time collaborators, with The Rest Is Football starting back in 2023.
As explained in the clip, this format will also mirror their coverage of the Euros last year, only this time, the former MotD poster boy will be doing his hosting duties over in the States, where the bulk of the now 48-team competition tournament is taking place.
Circling back, the 65-year-old has confirmed that he’ll be working from a studio in New York and will be accompanied not only by his co-hosts virtually but with several special guests scheduled to join in, too.
Multiple reporters are expected to remote in from the England camp and various fan zones, with the fixtures set to take place across North America and Mexico.
Will you be tuning into The Rest Is Football on Netflix next summer?
Erling Haaland breaks yet another Premier League record after nine-goal thriller
Danny Jones
Erling Haaland has broken his umpteenth record since arriving in the Premier League and donning a Manchester City shirt, becoming the fastest player to reach 100 goals in the competition.
Let’s be honest, are any of us surprised?
While yet another goal from Haaland and entering himself into the 100 club was a notable narrative on the night, the real headline, however, was that scoreline, as City barely escaped by the skin of their teeth.
Despite persisting questions surrounding the Blues’ defence, it was nevertheless a landmark moment for the Norwegian number nine, who remains the most prolific striker on the planet. Here’s how he did it:
Commenting on the achievement on social media, the big blonde bagsman simply wrote, “When football takes you to places you could never have imagined” – signing off with a ‘100’ emoji, of course.
Despite it being reiterated that he doesn’t think too much about the various milestones he continues to surpass with each passing game, he admitted he knew about this particular one and was visibly chuffed with being in such good company.
For context, it took Haaland 111 matches to score his 100th goal in the division, which is 13 appearances quicker than the next fastest Premier League legend, Alan Shearer, who took 124 games to reach the tally when the modern era of the top flight first began three decades ago.
You can see who else has achieved the feat and how fast here:
Even more impressively, this wasn’t the only rather incredible statistic that came from the fixture either, as he walked away with a frankly ridiculous bit of pedigree among the strikers’ union.
As well as his opening goal, which well and truly opened the floodgates (at both ends, as it turned out), Haaland was caught offside in a PL away game for the first time in more than TWO whole years, the last occasion being against Sheffield United in August 2023.
To quote a post we saw on X, “Do you know how crazy a stat this is?…”
If you didn’t manage to catch the game on Tuesday night, we seriously recommend you watch the many highlights from the win over Fulham down below.
Emily Sergeant -
4th August 2020 
